Danger by design? Mapping safe route choices in the city of Tshwane, South Africa

Urban navigation systems typically prioritize the shortest or fastest routes between two points but rarely consider personal safety, a critical concern in cities characterised by elevated crime risks. In this study we delineate the safest and shortest route between any two locations in the city of Tshwane, South Africa. In a departure from previous work, we identify a safe route based on a combination of historical incivility data, the spatial distribution of various ‘risky’ facilities, as well as the location of numerous safety infrastructures such as surveillance cameras and security patrols. Results reveal substantial differences between the shortest route and various temporally-disaggregated safe routes, with the safest route being approximately 63% longer but exposing travellers to nearly half the number of recorded incivilities. Daytime, night-time, weekday and weekend routes also exhibited distinct patterns reflecting the routine activities of area users. The results offer practical implications for evidence-based safety interventions and the development of risk-aware navigation systems.